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Fiction

Alentejo Blue

Fiction

Following her National Book Critics Circle and Los Angeles Times Book Award-nominated, bestselling debut, Brick Lane, Monica Ali's splendid Alentejo Blue "rewards readers with characters who etch themselves into one's memory" (People).

Set in a small Portuguese village, Alentejo Blue is a story of displacement and modernization told through the lives of the locals and of people who are just passing through. The residents of Mamarrosa whose ancestors occupy the graveyards are restless and struggle to make a living. They watch as tourists and expats move in.

Monica Ali's characters are profoundly sympathetic. Her understanding of their dreams, desires, and disappointments is rare and moving. Alentejo Blue is evidence that Monica Ali is one of the most gifted voices of her generation.

Book Reviews

Reading Group Guide

Questions for Discussion: 1. The stories in Alentejo Blue are linked by location and characters. Which story did you find the most compelling and why? 2. Vasco has one of the most consistent presences throughout the book: his story is told either through his own voice or by those who visit his café. Discuss him and how he and his café set a framework for the book. 3. In the book an "expatriot" is described as someone who has exiled oneself, or separated oneself from their fatherland. Which characters do you consider to be expatriots? Discuss the writer Stanton and the Potts family. Discuss Theresa and her impending move to London and her separation from her homeland. 4. Monica Ali demystifies and demythologizes Portugal in this book. Once known as the country that spearheaded the exploration of the world and undertook the Age of Discovery, Portugal's cultural influences include Roman, Spanish, Celtic, and Moorish influences, which provide it with its rich cultural heritage. Yet, Ali depicts Mamarossa as a tough and hardscrabble town, hardly inviting for tourists. Discuss the couple - The Mowatts - who are on holiday in Mamarossa. How does their experience make you view Portugal. 5. Throughout the book there is an undercurrent of immorality-from the petty thievery of Ruby Potts to the adulterous affair of Stanton and Chrissie Potts to the small lies that the characters tell each other. What other indiscretions are rev
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About the Author

Monica Ali has been named by Granta as one of the twenty best young British novelists. She is the author of In the Kitchen, Alentejo Blue, and Brick Lane, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She lives in London with her husband and two children.